Interview with World in Conflict: Soviet Assault’s Magnus ‘Soundboy’ Jansén

Interview parto uno

Recently, we got the inside work on World in Conflict: Soviet Assault from Magnus “Soundboy” Jansén, Lead Game Designer on the follow up to the smash Cold War strategy game. I want to thank Matt and Magnus for making this happen.

GVK: What is the background and setting for the game?

MJ: World in Conflict: Soviet Assault takes place in the late 1980s and depicts a “what if” scenario where the Soviet Union invades Europe and the United States. In the game, NATO and USA join forces to fight the Soviet army in a series of battles that range from the American farmlands and metropolises to small Norwegian fishing villages.

GVK: What are some of the new unit types players will use and are there mega weapons?

MJ: We decided against including new units, as it would create a split in our multiplayer community between the players who buy World in Conflict: Soviet Assault and those who don’t. As for mega weapons, we’re still keeping the Tactical Aid weapons (like carpet bombs, napalm strikes and tactical nukes). It just wouldn’t be World in Conflict without them!

GVK: What changes in gameplay and strategy are different from the original?

MJ: We didn’t want to include new gameplay just for the sake of it, so our ambition has been to maintain and perfect the gameplay of the original World in Conflict. We’ve put a lot of work into designing the new missions and maps, and hopefully you can tell that we’re improving on our work on the original World in Conflict release.

GVK: What forms of multiplayer will we see?

MJ: The game mainly revolves around team-based multiplayer, where two factions fight it out using all kinds of weaponry. We have three different game modes that all require some form of teamwork and coordination from the players, which naturally has created a strong competitive community. In the game, all players select one of four roles (armor, air, infantry or support) that all have their own unique strengths and weaknesses. While that might sounds simple enough, the challenge lies in combining these different roles as a team in order to defeat the enemy.

GVK: What sort of missions and campaigns will players face?

MJ: The single-player campaign that’s included from the original PC release features a number of American characters that the player follows as they push back the Soviet army from both the US and western Europe. The player takes the role of one of several commanders to fight the war alongside his comrades. It’s a very cinematic and story-driven experience, where the characters make up the real plot.

With World in Conflict: Soviet Assault, we’re also adding a number of new missions that tell the story from the other side – the Soviet army. We wanted to avoid the typical, clichéd depiction of Russians, so we’ve taken a lot of time to develop plausible Russian characters to tell a serious story about a serious war.